The Latter Rain

Well the first of three camps is over. I am back for a short respite tonight and a return to modernity before going back bright and early tomorrow morning for the start of the next camp. We drove up to the site Tuesday morning and to my surprise the facilities were very basic! The camp is situated on the other side of the lake to where I am staying, it is quite small with only a few buildings. There are two communal shower rooms that only have cold water, one for boys and the other for girls; there are also two sets of port-a-loos too (and not Western style - Japanese style, which are let's say... on second thought I'll let you google traditional Japanese toilets). For all three camps I am a 'ground worker', which basically means an odd jobs man. Our primary job and purpose is to ensure there is clean drinking water on site. The water is collected from a spring nearby the site that comes down from the hill. However the water must first be boiled to make it clean to drink. So several times a day we have to fill two cisterns with water that is pumped from the spring, boil it then fill kettles and place them in the stream to cool off ready to drink. In order to make the water more palatable tea is added. So for the past three days I've been drinking nothing but cold tea with the occasional fruit juice at meal times. There's nothing quite like camping old skool!

But despite the nature of the camps it has been rewarding to serve. I have been reflecting on Paul's metaphor for the Church as the body and how we all have different, but equally important roles to play. Naturally due to the language barrier I cannot teach, but I can boil water and build camp fires and lug tables about. I am here to serve and I am grateful to God for this opportunity to be able to serve in this way. Without clean, drinkable water they wouldn't be able to run the camp, so it is an incredibly important job in order to enable the leaders to teach.

I also met Ben who I originally contacted about joining WEC Japan for a short term mission. It has been very insightful again discussing the particular needs and issues that arise when evangelising in Japan. He was able to confirm some of my first impressions and I was also able to learn more from him about just how difficult it is to reach the Japanese people with the Gospel. Religion and culture have amalgamated into one in Japan, so even though people think of themselves as irreligious, their actions and traditions are in fact steeped in the religions of Buddhism and Shintoism. For example every house when it is first built has a Shinto dedication ceremony and there are Shinto shrines in the rice fields to try and produce a good crop. The teacher/student hierarchical relationship is also very ingrained into the Japanese culture, which effects the dynamic of the Japanese Church. Bible studies are difficult as most Japanese Christians just expect the leader of the study to teach them the interpretation rather than exploring the meaning together. This has even greater ramifications for witnessing and evangelising - there is still a great dependence from the average Japanese Christian on the pastor or missionary doing the evangelism.

But I have also observed that it doesn't matter which part of the world you are in some things stay the same - children like to play, women wear makeup, people have a sense of humour and everyone likes to eat! Though there are many things that are distinctly Japanese, some basic things are inherent in every human being. I am growing far more accustomed to the look and feel of the country now. I was thankful to one of the other short term workers staying with us that he was able to show me around Katata, a nearby town to where we are staying. I sampled a Japanese nectarine, which was larger than the ones found in England and was very juicy and sweet. He also took me to a Sushi restaurant, where I ate several types of Sushi, some for the first time. I have liked everything I have eaten here in Japan, most of it involving rice to a greater or lesser degree. The food appears simple yet very refined. I have also acquired a few new phrases in Japanese that I have been using but they will take much more practice before they are embedded in my memory and I can pronounce them correctly. "Oishii des" means this is delicious (a very handy phrase to know) and just yesterday I was taught how to say how old I am: "watashi wa niju gos si des".

The second camp is slightly shorter and runs from Friday to Saturday and then on Sunday I am giving my testimony in one of the WEC churches before Monday morning we go to Tohoku to help with the earthquake relief work. Thank you those of you who are praying for me; please continue to pray for the following:

1. That I am able to handle any further culture shock that may arise from the Tohoku trip.
2. For my personal safety while in Tohoku
3. That God would raise up Japanese Christians filled with the Holy Spirit to go out and plant new churches across the country. I believe this is vital for the future of Christianity in Japan.

I hope to be able to write one more blog before we go off to Tohoku as we will be away for a week without internet access.

"A blanket of deception is layered on sacred writings which contain the thoughts of the One who is Almighty God. A sword unsheathed is drawn bringing legions of demons to their knees by the covenant prepared before the earth itself. Still so many choose to warm themselves beneath deception. As the end draws near and history closes I pray that the winds and the rain of that which is latter, will bring clarity and understanding to Your infallible Word. Let the lack of knowledge that destroys us be lifted in Your name." Zao 'The Latter Rain'